There are several threads discussing this in the "college and amateur soccer" forum Peter McGlynn shoved the referee to the ground after UCSB lost its third home OT game in a row, this time to UC Davis. Campus security wrestled him to the ground and led him away in handcuffs.
Another headline that UCSB doesn't need. I'll be interested to find out what lead up to this. Sounds like it was after the match had concluded and it was probably best for Reed and crew to get out of there and avoid the conflict. Certainly doesn't excuse the actions, though, and I hope Reed gets justice here.
Here's the opening post in the thread dedicated to the incident ... And part of the (very lengthy) UCSB backstory here ... https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/2010-ncaa-tournament-meltdown.1604868/
In no way am I saying these actions were OK, they aren't and I expect his college career is over (he's a senior), but why do so many reports say punched when it was an obvious push? In the end, it doesn't matter, but I was just wondering. I doubt anything will happen criminally if he has no record. But as for school, this should be no different than assaulting a faculty or staff member. As a side note, he doesn't even appear on the roster now: http://www.ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-soccer/2012-13/roster
After watching the video again, the coach's behavior is atrocious. He is supposed to be the leader of the team and set the example for his players. Yeah, he claimed he was getting his players out of the way, but he was still in the CR's face while separating his players. Talk about being in a job preservation mode now. He should be fired because it is obvious there is a pattern here that he "condones" antics toward referees. Except in this case, it ended up with an assault on a ref.
Since assaulting a referee in CA is generally a felony (some cases class C, some class A; the latter likely applies), I'm hoping there's justice done here, if for no other reason than to send a message to players. Reed's a straight arrow referee, top drawer professional & young enough to have a future at much higher levels. If the coach was in his face, there's likely little justification for it in the first place. Poor example set, inevitable consequence occurs. From NASO's summary: CALIFORNIA California Penal Code Section 243.8 provides: (a) When a battery is committed against a sports official immediately prior to, during, or immediately following an interscholastic, intercollegiate, or any other organized amateur or professional athletic contest in which the sports official is participating, and the person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, the offense shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) For the purposes of this section, "sports official" means nay individual who serves as a referee, umpire, linesman, or who serves in similar capacity but may be known by a different title or name and is duly registered by, or a member of a local, state, regional or national organization engaged in part in providing education and training to sports officials. (Adopted October 5, 1991)
Player has been cut from the team, coach suspended for a game (by the school) and the team has voluntarily withdrawn from playoff consideration: http://www.independent.com/news/2012/oct/30/ucsb-soccer-player-cut-team-after-shoving-official/?on The kid was a senior and the Gauchos might not have made the tournament anyway, but there's really not much more the school could do in those two realms, so good for them. We'll have to wait and see if any sanctioning body imposes a longer ban on the coach.
I think the statements made by the university are exactly what we should see more often. I have been involved in several games with Vom Steeg and, although he gets heated at times, I wouldn't have expected him to approach the referee like that. Hopefully they take their knock and come back better for it. Interesting that NCAA put an emphasis on coaches not approaching the CR between periods to attempt to prevent escalations like this. I can imagine this will be covered at camp again this year.
It would have been nice to see this type of response and self-imposed discipline in the response from the team that was removed from the Minnesota HS playoffs.... In case you missed it: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/brawl-at-mn-high-school-game.1976777/
Today the local DA said he is filing misdemeanor charges. http://presidiosports.com/2012/10/santa-barbara-da-to-file-charges-against-mcglynn/
I'm gonna call BS on this. There's a lot more the school could have done - starting with the coach. This program has been doing this dog and pony show to detract from their performance and place blame on referees for quite some time. It starts at the top. Take away their per diem. Suspend the coach for a meaningless game. No playoffs when they weren't going anyway. The coach is an idiot and deserves the boot. The AD is a wimp. Players come and go but the coach has been the common denominator here. When is enough, enough? They were morons in the 2010 playoffs. Morons on 10/14/11 (google it). And a complete disgrace this past weekend. End of rant.
Enforcement against coaches' dissent seems to be irregular in college games. A shout from the bench can warrant a yellow, but a full-up physical confrontation like TVS performed before McGlynn's assault aren't even noted on the game report.
Awesome! Thanks for the link. Apparently the class A/C felony isn't in the code section at all. I re-read the entire code section. Oh well, it's a serious substantive penalty either way. He may get off easy, but clearly the message has been sent and received and the example set for others. Let's hope it improves the Game. I was encouraged by the other UCSB students' responses to the incident, to a student condemning the act.
Which makes his apology completely worthless. There is only one aggrieved party in this whole situation: the ref. Apologies are for aggrieved parties not for deflecting as much blame as possible with a "mea culpa I screwed up" routine in which the media loves. What a jack wagon.
One hopes he offered an apology directly to the referee, which would have been more appropriate than just including him in the list of people the player might have embarrassed. I don't know that this happened, but I would be very surprised if the school hadn't required it of him.
Agreed. Something along the lines of "In addition to the referee to whom I have apologized directly, I would like to...". That's assuming he actually did apologize, of course.
Further word. The player is not an American, I'm told. He is here on a student visa. Since he got dropped from the team, he will probably be deported.
An apology is an admission under the rules of evidence and would be admissible against him in a criminal trial.